


Sleepless Nights

by dragonsFall



Series: Mutants [9]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Ace has fire manipulation, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Mutants, Cuddling, Doctor Marco, Fluff, Journalist Ace, M/M, Marco just has wings and a healing factor, Vigilante Marco, Wing Grooming, maybe a smidge of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26262694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonsFall/pseuds/dragonsFall
Summary: Unable to sleep because of his restless brother rather than his own brain, Ace decides to try and find something to do until he can get some sleep. Or its time for him to go to work. Luckily, someone else is up at this late hour.
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace
Series: Mutants [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894681
Comments: 12
Kudos: 76
Collections: Marco and Ace Fics





	Sleepless Nights

This was not the first time that he found himself unable to sleep in the house that was starting to become familiar to him. It wasn’t because he was overthinking his entire life or doubting his self-worth. Which was nice to not do for once. The previous nights had him thinking about the fire and feeling terrible that it was his doing. Those thoughts weren’t around for once since the whole event. No. He couldn’t sleep because he was not used to having to share a bed with his two brothers. Ace was used to it when they were small but it had been years since they had shared a bed. He had forgotten how little Sabo moved in his sleep and how often Luffy would move from one side of the bed to the other. It made it nearly impossible to get to sleep or to stay asleep. Especially right now with his youngest brother wedged between himself and Sabo.

They were currently staying with Marco and Thatch. Which started once the freckled man had been released from the hospital. Ace still could not believe the two knew each other. Or that they were brothers. That had come as a major surprise. The three brothers were hosted in the guest room the two had. Not wanting to trouble them more than they already were, they decided that they would share the room and the bed. Which worked out for maybe a day. Ace was envious of Sabo being able to sleep through Luffy’s constant moving and occasional mumbling about something edible.

The three days they had been staying with the two brothers had been interesting. Ace had been whacked in the face with one of Marco’s wings during their first day there. The poor guy had just been stretching and Ace just happened to be standing in the wrong spot. At least he knew just how powerful they were considering his face was slightly tender if not bruised. Then Luffy had cleared out the fridge despite being told not to.  Twice . And to top it all off, Thatch had been judo flipped by Sabo just for approaching from the wrong side. It could’ve been worse but still. Poor Thatch. To be fair, he did threaten Luffy after the first fridge incident.

Despite their little moments of chaos, there was a lot that Ace was learning. Like Marco was a doctor and he knew Deuce. Which had come as a surprise. How the hell did he have time to be a hero if he was busy saving lives in a different way? He was learning to control his newfound powers with the help of his winged friend. Boyfriend? He learned that Thatch was as hairy as a Sasquatch. Something Ace never wanted to see again in his lifetime. But if you looked past all the hair, you could see an old scar on his back. Dangerously close to his heart. Ace didn’t ask about it. He wasn’t  that nosy but he wanted to know what had happened. He was also exposed to more horrible jokes than normal along with teasing towards him and Marco. Both of them were all too happy to punish Thatch for both offenses.

Ace had seen Marco preening his wings and his fingers twitched to help when he saw that the blond struggled with certain spots. Took him an hour to complete one wing. No wonder he was an early riser even when he had been out late. He learned that Marco liked fruit. Especially pineapple. That he tucked his legs no matter where he was sitting if he was physically able. And as much as he tried to hide it, the winged vigilante was distracted by shiny things. And Ace. Marco needed reading glasses. And Ace would be lying if he said that seeing him in them didn’t do something to his brain. Something akin to short-circuiting. All the furniture in the house was optimized to be comfortable for someone with wings.

During his reflection over the past three days, Luffy’s arm made contact with his older brother’s face. It was more of a shock than anything else but it was enough to convince him that it wasn’t worth staying in bed. He carefully slid out from under his brother’s arm since it had settled on his chest after giving him a nice whack. A slight grumbling from his brother but Luffy was not waking up. Good. Ace stretched then went to the door, exiting into the dark hallway. A glance down the hall to the two dark bedrooms and the ajar door of the guest bathroom. Seemed like he was the only one awake. Well, Marco could be out and about. Ace wouldn’t know. It wasn’t like he told everyone that he was going to go run around dressed up like a superhero.

Ace made his way downstairs, being careful not to miss any steps. That would be embarrassing. Waking everyone up because he fell down the stairs. Once he made it down, he went to the kitchen and retrieved a glass of water. It was nice and quiet. His gaze settled on the kitchen table which was a little messy. 

A notebook full of notes that belonged to Thatch sat open on it. A mix of recipes and scribbled thoughts for the stories he was working on based on what Ace had seen in it. There were pens and loose sheets of paper on that side of the table. Across from the mess, there was a nicely stacked up pile of paperwork that Marco had brought home and his favorite coffee cup. He began to wonder what he could quietly do until he could sleep. Or it was time for work. Whichever came first.

Ace was snapped out of his thoughts as he caught sight of something just out of the corner of his eye. He turned to get a look and nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized that it was Marco. Settled on the couch with a book open in his lap with one of those little reading lights, blue eyes focusing on him. Glasses framed them. Metal frames like what Deuce had. His legs were folded on the couch. How long had he been sitting there? And why hadn’t he said anything when Ace came down? The smile he was now getting told him it was because Marco wanted to spook him. The bastard.

“Very funny birdie” Commented Ace as he set his glass of water aside and made his way over to the couch to join Marco. Making sure not to sit too close in case he was not invited into his personal space. “What are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep, yoi” Answered Marco, closing his book but leaving the soft book light on. Ace briefly caught sight of the cover. It looked like some sort of adventure story featuring pirates.

Ace adjusted how he was sitting, maybe moving a little closer. Maybe just a tiny smidge closer. “That seems to be a running theme with us,” He said. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Marco. And Ace could appreciate how his tone suggested that he didn’t have to if he didn’t want to.

“My little brother is a menace even when he’s asleep” Answered the dark-haired man. “From one side of the bed to the other even if something is in his way. Hit me in the face like that one day with your wing”

That had brought a chuckle from Marco who had removed his glasses to set them aside. “I said I was sorry, yoi” He had personally seen how much of a terror Luffy could be. Especially when it came to food or getting bored. The teen had way too much energy that got him into trouble.

“Sorry doesn’t fix my face. Lufs a good kid though. A pain in the ass but his hearts in the right place. Why can’t you sleep?” Asked Ace. Honestly, it hadn’t hurt past the initial whack but he was going to keep giving Marco shit over it.

Marco rubbed at his eyes before he answered Ace. It almost seemed to highlight just how often he was deprived of sleep. “Bad dreams” Something in how he said it told Ace that he wasn’t open to discussing what they were about. That was fine with him. There would be a time and a place for that. Tonight was not that time.

They fell into a comfortable silence with Ace just staring up at the ceiling while Marco had returned to his reading. It was nice but a thought popped into his head. He waited for a moment, trying to figure out if it would be too much to ask.

“Can I ask you a question?” The slight inclination of Marco’s head let him know that he was cleared to ask whatever was on his mind. “Do you… want help when you’re doing your wings? I noticed you were having some trouble this morning. And I understand if you don’t want anyone touching them. Don’t feel-”

“You can help, yoi. Has anyone told you that you think too much?”

“I’ve been told the opposite, bird brain”

Marco was shaking his head at him, almost amused. It reminded Ace of that night they first met in the alleyway. And the blond had agreed to an interview. He was brought out of the memory when Marco closed his book and stood up to change how he was sitting. Once he was settled, his back was facing Ace. It was like a silent invitation and Ace was going to accept it.

Carefully, Ace reached out to touch. Just to familiarize himself with them. The feathers were somewhat soft and the appendages themselves were warm. He noticed that they had tensed the moment he had touched them like that night he had been given Marcos jacket. Another thing that he noticed was that there seemed to be certain spots that made the blond react differently. Touching where the wings met his back resulted in a shudder. Ace wasn’t sure if that was a good shudder or a bad shudder. There would be time to explore that later. Another spot, about the middle of his wing, caused him to fluff up. And okay, that was cute. Ace would have to remember both.

“Okay. So what do I do exactly?” Asked Ace, starting to pull his hands away to wait for instruction. He was a little worried about screwing it up considering how important the act of preening seemed to be.

Marco didn’t hesitate to start telling him how to tend to the wings, being detailed about how it needed to be done. Letting him know which spots he had trouble reaching. And as Ace listened and worked, he felt the tension leaving those wings. Leaving Marcos whole body it seemed. Melting away under his inexperienced hands. He couldn’t help but feel that he was doing something intimate. Like he was being trusted with something that had never been trusted to anyone else before. Something he wasn’t sure he wanted to be trusted with. That usual self-doubt rearing its ugly head. When it was all said and done, he was worried that he had put the blond to sleep.

But then Marco was moving, a soft smile directed at Ace that made his heart do something stupid. “Thank you, yoi”

“Uh yeah. Anytime” A smile of his own began to form on his freckled face.

“Join me?” asked the blond, sleepy eyes looking even sleepier than usual.

Ace was about to ask what for until he saw that Marco was moving again and he got out of the way. The older man was laying along the edge of the couch in a manner that had Ace questioning how the hell he didn’t fall off. The way his arm and wing were opened up for him was all too inviting. And who was Ace to reject such a nice offer? It was a little cramped when he laid with him but he wasn’t going to complain.

That waiting arm was wrapped around him with the wing being draped over him. And oh that was nice. To be held even if it was a little too warm. It almost seemed to chase away any thoughts that preyed on him. He hesitantly moved his arm to wrap around Marco in turn.

Ace wasn’t sure if he would fall asleep. He wasn’t used to sharing a sleeping space anymore but it seemed that his body had already decided for him. The dark-haired man was soon asleep, feeling secure and comfortable beneath Marco’s wing with his arms wrapped around him. Oh so loved within that moment.

**Author's Note:**

> Want to request a fic? Feel free to contact me on my Tumblr: clockworkPanic


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